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I don't think getting rid of Drouin is the answer, but I did expect Guy to retire last summer. Not that I thought he couldn't contribute anymore, but considering that everyone agreed he had lost a step and that K's were allowed fewer vets this year (and he was the oldest of the lot), I thought he'd step aside so one of teammates wouldn't have to. It just seemed like the honorable thing to do.

I agree....

Why would you want to get rid of a self-proclaimed loafer?

They are very valuable in the CHL as it seems by looking at our statistics versus the league's statistics.

Plus, it is always a great idea when you are deciding between veteran franchise type players and you choose to keep 1 who lacks effort, and 1 that is 40+ that has lost a step and now has to play in a league where the average age is 15 years younger than himself. Great idea letting the team leader go in a guy that still gives 100% on the ice and is the best player to have played for this version of the Komets during the "AA" era.

Maybe we can all see what the excitement that Flint had last season feels like from the perspective of falling far behind in the standings and making the playoffs on the last game of the season to make a 4 round run to the finals. Silly me, there weren't 4 rounds in a 6 team league now was there? LOL

Here's for hoping that Santa brings us hearts, courage, brains, and leadership this Christmas for the Orange and Black......

Errrrrr.......maybe that was the Wizard?

Don't look behind the curtain boys.....

I agree with WHO. I am on record that one of the two goalies should be traded for a "stand in front of the net" forward.

Some thoughts on the game...

1. You knew Naurato was going to come to play...of course he had two points. Not sure why he got thrown under the bus first. Probably didn't make much $$$, but wouldn't have started there.

2. This team won't win very many games without a center that can carry the puck into the offensive zone. We don't have a single center who can do that. At least five times the defensemen carried the puck deep last night. Frankie is great at it, but it's going to lead to odd man rushes the other way. Curdy would be much better with someone who could pass the puck to him. He's much more a winger than center.

3. Need a forward in front of the net. Schrock was clearly sick/hurt last night. Got to have someone over six feet tall in front to get a few garbage goals and break this streak.

4. Good energy in the first period. Got to find a way to score even strength goals. (See #2&3 above) Going to be a long season if we can't score 5 on 5.

5. We have got to find a away to handle the forecheck. Short passes out of the zone is the key. I'm sick of seeing PC tap his stick as he tries to cherry pick 2/3rd of the way down the ice. I have yet to see that work in the CHL.

6. Need to stop taking dumb penalties. Warner's was simply inexcusable in that situation.

7. Really enjoy the pace of CHL hockey. I liked the clutch and grab of the old IHL, but this is more enjoyable to watch...even if the home team is losing.

8. Gratz is a gifted coach for Dayton. Can tell that he thinks defense first, like Sims, but has a good offensive flow as well. I think we're looking for some of our players to do things they not only don't have the ability to do, but haven't been instructed to do. Hard to practice against a forecheck when we don't have the speed to do it ourselves.

When sports franchises with rich history and tradition start out this way, the coach almost always is on the chopping block.

Just re-read this whole string. Wendy, has hit it on the head. Whether a player or two returns is not the problem. Sometimes the "honorable thing" is the right thing for the team but individual milestones are put in front. Heart and leadership are the only things that you can ask for at this time. No matter where they come from. It's Christmas time in Fort Wayne. Do you remember last year? Not saying that they can win it all, but making the playoffs on the last day of the season.....

I skipped last nights game so I'd be more knowledgable.

Seems a lot of the posters here have yet to see a game this season.

I don't comment on the specifics of the games as I have no right to do so. But as someone who appreciates and follows hockey, I base the comments I do make on my understanding of the sport in general, my experiences in previous seasons, the observations of others, and the pure stats of the game. I don't think getting rid of P.C. would help because I still think he can play. Just two seasons, he nearly broke 100 points. Last year, he had 82 points, second most on the team behind Chaulk. Everyone's underachieving this season, but he's still 4th on the team in points. Also, if the K's situation this year is due to a lack of leadership, I don't see where getting rid of more vets will help. Especially a vet like P.C. who has worked as a player/assistant coach before, just like Chaulk.

JM. listen when I can, and read a lot of what is written here. The problem is on the ice, not on the blog.

Wendy, our eyes tell us alot when we watch a 35 or whatever year old loafer get taken to school by players younger and in some cases less talented game after game in the CHL.

This is not just PC's fault. It is 2/3's or more of these guys most nights. This is a team effort. They lose as a team, and they (would love to say win) lose as a team. And their record right now is 5-15-1.

We all have picked this team apart in many different areas, and we are all correct most of the time, because they continue to lose. Not hard to pick a team apart when they suck this much.

But really.....what is the problem with this team? And what really up to this point has been done to fix this team's problems? Not much.

I said this to Sal over on FYC.....his post there....it looks like the same post Me or Snuff or Sal or JM or Alan or Blake or JR or GM or Komets 123 or whoever has posted every weekend this season about how this team continues to look bad and what it appears to be the problem.

That same post Sal made, none of those problems have been addressed. Or at least fixed.

Are we all really smart or is Management really this dumb?

Do they want to win? Then fix the problems. Stop playing favorites and do what it takes to put a competitive team on the ice all ready and stop the games.

I know they don't like to let players go during the holidays. But they should have made these moves weeks ago.

So let the rumors be true, Chaulk, Syro, Snowball, and whoever else.

Let's play some hockey.

I am tired of watching this team lose with playing half a game or 1 period hard or 2 or 3 good shifts.

Dayton, Quad City, Bloomington, and Evansville have no business beating us.

Period.

The only thing that worries me about these rumors is that we are talking about 2 guys who havent played this season, a rookie and Chaulk coming in to "save" the season... Yikes!

Snowball, while a good fighter, hasnt played since the 2008-09 season. How long will it take him and Syro to get into shape?

Of course they do. And that's why I value everyone's opinions and observations. But with all due respect, sometimes one can be too close too the situation. That and then there is the old "scientist cuts all of a frog's legs off, tells it to jump, and concludes it's gone deaf when it doesn't" factor. Not saying that's you, but some posters... absolutely. As for P.C., I just think he's someone who will do better if and when this team ever starts playing like one. Sorry, but I don't buy that the current Komets are incapable of competing in the CHL. They just have to decide they want to.

... too close to... :|

have a "big Mac"??????

Nothing would surprise me at this point.

Face value the Frankes are sticking to the script that won them 3 titles. Ok, well that's not working in the CHL. So the sooner they realize that they better off the franchise will be. Bringing back players that excelled in the IHL2 isn't going to help. Bringing players in who have excelled in the CHL will.

Sims has a losing record in the CHL. Why is this fact being ignored? "But he's won three championships" yeah in the laughing-stock-of-AA-hockey league. (Veteran - past their prime, going nowhere in the farm system) The AA veterans we have and this style of hockey don't mix. So let's please stop with bringing guys in who won't help (the IHL2 veterans). Naruato left and played great with the Gems (he has a chance to further himself).

The problem isn't who we do or don't have, it's the style of hockey that the Frankes think will win, and clearly it doesn't. The definition of insanity - doing the same thing expecting different results.

I think I spelled his name wrong. I don't think he cares because he got away from a bad situation and is playing great in Dayton.

It's just sad to see the ownership group think that their meddling with coaches and players is a good idea in big-boy hockey. Any kool-aid drinkers think otherwise? What's the basis? The sooner the Ks go the the AHL, they better off they'll be.

no touch.. you have no clue

You're funny.

Thanks for your insight, Brian. I think your opinion of what the Komets issues are have shed a lot of light for the rest of us.

I stop reading when the same old line about how "bad" the IHL was starts.
The problems with the IHL had nothing...zero... none whatsoever to do with the talent on the ice. The IHL problems had everything to do with the financial stability of its franchises due to down economy and other factors.
On paper the IHL rosters had just as much talent as any given CHL team.
Our roster hasn't been able to make the adjustment to the style of play in the CHL. Doesn't make the CHL better. Just different.

Thank you Brian and Snuff-AMEN

JM... the bottom line is .. the komets are not scoring. they could have been (should have been) up at least 4-0 against dayton. im tired of people on here with all their hockey wisdom slam al sims and the frankes. look... the guy played 4 yrs beside perhaps one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the NHL. he has won 4 championships with the komets. think he dont know systems? think he dont know the damn game? think again gurus.
also sick and tired of hearing the difference in leagues . the league has nothing to do with komets failure at this point or there past success.. AA hockey is AA hockey, you can put any name or moniker on it you want. its still damn hockey!
anybody out there who seriously thinks the frankes owning the ihl had anything to do with there success is seriously mistaken as well.
after the debacle in danbury several years ago, the salary cap is taken very seriously. every team has the opportunity to use the cap and its rules. so, please tell me how the frankes manipulated 3 championships.
this league is no better, no worse than any IHL product that was put on the ice.
the bottom line is.. FT WAYNE IS NOT PLAYING GOOD HOCKEY!
also tired of hearing about locker room chemistry .. unless anyone on this blog has sit in the locker room .. how can you make comments about leo being head case ? who is and who isnt a team player... yeah, im frustrated as the rest of you die hard komets fans . ill support them win or lose.

Interesting. So if the IHL had the same level of talent (here we go) then we should be beating the crap out of pretty much everyone in this league. The CHL is definately different!!

Not sure what it's going to take to show that what the Ks did in the IHL does not, nor will it, work in the CHL.

People keep saying the other IHL teams basically brought back the same teams from last year. I disagree. Dayton and Bloomington both got new coaches this offseason. That can be a dramatic change, as the people debating Sims' future right now understand. But perhaps that is a big reason those two teams have improved so much this year?

Dayton and Quad City each got new owners that appear to have more resources to be competitve this year. Last year, I don't think some of the weaker IHL teams reached the salary cap, and they certainly didn't max out the # of vets.

Also check out the rosters of the other IHL teams. Each of them brought in 4-5 guys (or in some cases more) with CHL experience. Not a ton, but more than the Komets did.

So other than the new owners, new head coaches, and new players, the other IHL teams basically stood pat.

Meanwhile, the Komets had to release several key players due to the new salary cap and vet limits. I knew going in that this was going to be a tougher season for the Komets, but I'm as surprised as anyone they are struggling THIS much.

This isn't hockey-related per se, but under Phil Jackson direction players play totally different, it's been said by players who have played for him throughout the league. Under Bill Belliceck, same thing. So, you can take talent, like some players on this team have, and place them under a coach that isn't that great, or you can place them under a coach that can bring out their best.

Just throwin' it out there.

al sims played hockey in the national hockey league and was the defensive partner for four years with one of the greatest players to play the game (bobby orr). he has won 4 championships here as a coach and has also coached in the national hockey league. you really think this is a coaching problem? you think the man doesnt know systems?
anyone who thinks his championships here are so called tainted, think again. i dont care what moniker or name you put on AA hockey, its STILL hockey. chl. ihl , echl, all equal and the game is about putting the puck in the net, something the komets just are not doing right now. the dayton game should have been 4-0 with 2 solid post and OC missing wide open net.
anyone on here who thinks the frankes owning the rights to the ihl had anything to do with the championships they won really have no concept. hockey is hockey and the ft wayne komets are just not playing good hockey.
yes, there were some roster mistakes this year, but as a whole this team has simply undrachieved, for whatever reasons. im sure al sims and the frankes will right this ship and we will see the kind of hockey we have been spoiled with and have come accustomed to. GO KOMETS!

Brian is smarter than me. I have no clue.

No Touch....
I have said many times that the system and style the Komets play will not work in the CHL.
It doesn't mean the players are less talented.
How would CHL teams do if all of the IHL styleclutching and grabbing was allowed?
It isn't a difference in talent. Just a difference in style that the Komets have not adjusted to.

I'll buy that for a dollar.